Man who killed Severance teen while driving drunk pleads guilty

Posted on 02/15/2017

GREELEY, Colo. (Weld County D.A.) - A previously convicted DUI offender pleaded guilty today in Weld County District Court nearly three months after killing a teenager while driving drunk down the wrong side of Interstate 25.

Alex Pablo Rodriguez, 25, pled guilty to all counts, including Vehicular Homicide, Vehicular Assault, DUI and Failure to Display Proof of Insurance. He faces a maximum sentence of 36 years in the Department of Corrections.

According to the affidavit, early Thanksgiving morning, Weld County dispatch received several calls from citizens reporting a gray Jeep driving southbound in the northbound lanes of I-25. The driver was later identified as Rodriguez.

After several attempts to stop him, officers said Rodriguez crashed head-on with another vehicle, driven by Nash Rider, 16, of Windsor, near milepost 231.

Rider was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. His passenger, Kyle Nackos, 19, of Severance, was pronounced dead at the scene.

“Unfortunately, the justice system can't bring back Kyle Nackos. It can't heal Nash Rider,” said Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke. “But what it can do is bring honor to them and their families. It can make defendants pay for their unconscionable acts that brought such great suffering. Today, we saw swift justice.”

Rodriguez will be sentenced April 7 at 2:30 p.m. The hearing is expected to last two hours.